 Section 1 of the National Geographic Magazine, Volume 8, October 1897. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Josh Kibbe. The Enchanted Mesa by F. W. Hodge, Bureau of American Ethnology. The Pueblo of Acoma, in western central New Mexico, is the oldest settlement within the limits of our domain. Many of the walls that still stand on that betelene pineal were seen by Coronado during his marvelous journey in 1540, and even then they were centuries old. The Valley of Acoma has been described as, The Garden of the Gods multiplied by ten, and with ten equal but other wonders thrown in, plus a human interest, an archaeological value, an atmosphere of romance and mystery, a comparison has not been overdrawn. Stretching away for miles lies a beautiful level plain, clothed in grama and bound on every side by maces, a variegated sandstone, rising precipitously from 300 to 400 feet, and relieved by minarets and pinnacles and domes and many other features of nature's architecture. About their bases, miniature forests of Pinyon and Cedar are found, pruned of their dead limbs by native wood gatherers. From westward, Mount Taylor, the loftiest peak in New Mexico, rears its verdant head, and 20 miles away to the westward, the great frowning pine-fringed Mesa Preta, with the beautiful veil of Cebeita at its feet, forms a fitting foreground to every dying sun. But none of these great rock tables is so precipitous, so awe-inspiring, and seemingly so out of place as the majestic isolated Cotsimo, or enchanted Mesa, 430 feet from the middle of the plain, as if too proud to keep company with its fellows. And this was one of the many wonderful home sites of the Acomas, during their wanderings from the mystic Shapapu in the far north to the present lofty dwelling place. Native tradition, as distinguished from myth, when uninfluenced by Caucasian contact, may usually be relied on even to the extent of disproving or verifying that which purports to be historical testimony. The Acoma Indians have handed down from Shaman to Novitiate, as a son in true prescriptorial fashion for many generations, the story that Cotsimo was once the home of their ancestors, but during a great convulgative nature, at a time when most of the inhabitants were at work in their fields below, an immense, rocky mass became freed from the friable wall of the cliff, destroying the only trail to the summit, and leaving a few old women to perish on the inaccessible height. What more than could be necessary to unwrap the place forever in the mystery of enchantment? This tradition was recorded in its native purity some twelve years ago by Mr. Charles F. Loomis, who has done so much to stimulate popular interest in this most interesting corner of our country, and the same story was repeated by Acoma Lips to the present rider while conducting a reconnaissance of the Pueblos in the autumn of 1895. During this visit, desiring to test the verity of the tradition, a trip was made to the base of Cotsimo, where a careful examination of the talus, especially where it is piled high about the foot of the Great Southwestern Cleft, up which the ancient pathway was repeated to around its course, was rewarded by the finding of numerous fragments of pottery of very ancient type, some of which were decorated in a vitreous glaze and are now lost to Pueblo potters. The talus at this point rises to a height of 224 feet above the plain, and therefore slightly more than halfway up the Mesa side. It is composed largely of earth, which could have been deposited there in no other way whatsoever than by washing from the summit during periods of storm through many centuries. An examination of the trail to a point within 60 feet of the top exhibited traces of what were evidently the hand-in-foot holes that had once aided in the ascent of the ancient trail, as at Acoma today. Even then the indications of the former occupancy of the enchanted Mesa were regarded as sufficient and that another one of the many native traditions verified by Archaeologic Proof. Enchanted Mesa has become celebrated during the last summer through the reports of the expedition of Professor William Libby of Princeton, who after several days of effort succeeded in scaling the height in the latter part of July by means of a life-saving equipment. It would seem that Professor Libby neglected to search for relics in the talus, that he devoted no attention to the Great Southwestern Cleft or Cove, up which the trail was reputed to have passed, and that after spending some three hours on the narrow southern extension of the Mesa top, awaiting the arrival of a ladder from Acoma to conduct him across a fissure, he employed the remaining two hours in a reconnaissance of the wider and more interesting part of the height, finding nothing that would indicate even a former visit by human beings. While I engaged in Archaeologic work in Arizona and later in Cebuita Valley in western central New Mexico, some 20 miles westward from Acoma Pueblo, I was directed to visit Cazamo once more in order to determine what additional data of an archaeological nature might be gathered by an examination of the summit. The knowledge gained by the previous visit made it apparent that a light equipment only would be necessary to accomplish the task. Precuring an extension ladder comprising six six-foot sections, some 300 feet of half-inch rope, and a pole pick, together with a number of bolts, drills, etc., which afterward were found to be needless, I proceeded to Laguna, the newest yet the most rapidly decaying of all the Pueblos on the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad. Here, I was fortunate in enlisting the services of Major George H. Pratt, who had served as the United States Deputy Surveyor in that section for nearly 30 years. Mr. A. C. Roman of Pasadena, California, a few of whose excellent photographs are here reproduced, and to Mr. H. C. Haight of Chicago. Much of the success of the Little Expedition is due to the entire aid of these gentlemen, and for many creature comforts, I am indebted to the messenger's marmin, whose beautiful little home of Laguna has delighted the heart of many a weary wayfarer in that sunny land. Leaving the railroad September 1st, we proceeded with two farm wagons, each drawn by a very small black mule and a large white horse, driven by two sturdy Laguna boys. The road trends westward for about seven miles, then turns southward through a rather wide valley scarred with arroyas, and lined with fantastically scarved sandstone cliffs. The summit of Mesa in Contata is visible for several miles ere the veil of a coma is reached, and as one enters the valley proper, he cannot fail to appreciate the wisdom displayed by the natives in the selection of the beautiful, grassy, Mesa-dotted plain that has been their home for so many generations. The next day was spent in the village, witnessing that curious anomaly of paganism intermixed with Christianity, known as the Fiesta de San Estevan. On the morning of the 3rd, an early start was made for Mesa in Contata, which lies three miles northeastward from the Pueblo, just within the eastern boundary of the Acoma Grant, and latitude 34 degrees 54 minutes north, longitude 107 degrees 34 minutes west. The remainder of the forenoon was employed in making camp in the little grove of cedars at the base of the cleft near the southwestern corner of the height, an unpacking apparatus, and in determining the altitude of the Mesa above the western plain. Locations of major prat show that the elevation of the foot of the great talus slope above the plain is at this point 33 feet, the apex of the talus 224 feet above the plain, and the top of the highest pinnacle on the summit of the Mesa overlooking the cleft, 431 feet above the same datum. The start from camp was made at noon. The ascent of the talus, in which the potsards had been observed in such considerable quantities two years previously, was made in a few minutes. The ladders, ropes, and photographic and surveying instruments being carried with some effort, since climbing, heavily laden, at an altitude of 6000 feet, in a broiling sun, is no trifling labor. But the real work began when the beginning of the rocky slope of the cleft was reached. One member of the party, taking the lead, dragged the end of a rope to a convenient landing place, where a dwarf pinion finds sufficient nourishment from the stormwater and sand from above to eke out a precarious existence. Fescending the rope to the tree, the outfit was hauled up and the other members of the party found a ready means of ascent. The next landing was several feet above at the base of a rather steep pitch of about 12 feet. This wall, although somewhat difficult to scale, may be climbed with greater or less safety by the aid of several small holes in its face. These holes were doubtless made artificially, but as the narrow pathway at this point is now a drainage course during periods of storm, the soft sandstone has become so much eroded that they have apparently lost their former shape. The cliff at this point was readily surrounded with the aid of two sections of the ladder, a rope being carried over the slope above and secured to a large boulder in the corner of a convenient terrace some 60 feet below the summit. This was the point which I reached during the 1895 visit. At that time, I spent several minutes on this ledge making diligent search on the walls of the cove for evidences of pictographs, but finding none. This does not signify that none ever existed, for both here and elsewhere about the cliff's great blocks of stone have fallen away so recently that their edges have not yet had time to round by erosion, and the now exposed faces of their former abiding places on the cliff wall are yet unstained by weathering. The boulder previously alluded to rests in a corner of the terrace below a long crack that extends the entire height of the 30 feet wall, just as it appeared to me before, and I well remember viewing the chasm while seated on it. I note these circumstances since one of the first things that met my gaze on reaching this point during our late climb was a collection of four oak sticks lying beside the boulder that I'm sure were not there during my previous climb. They were about two and a half feet in length, an inch thick, and had been freshly pointed at each end with a sharp tool, evidently a hatchet. Their occurrence here suggested a careful investigation of the fissure above, which resulted in the finding of a regular series of pecked holes, apparently very ancient, for their edges have been so eroded that they are now visible only in close examination. So shallow indeed had the holes been worn that I at once saw that while the pointed sticks afforded an indication of the former use of the holes, it would have been impossible for the latter to have been employed as a means of scaling the wall in modern times. I therefore concluded that the sticks had recently been left there by one who desired to gain access to the summit, but had failed in the attempt. This conclusion was confirmed immediately afterward when I found almost beneath the boulder a shirt of typical modern acoma pottery and an unfethered prayer stick and a few moments later Mr. Hate-Dug from the moist sand in the corner other fragments of the same vessel, evidently the remains of a sacrifice which had it been accessible would doubtless have been deposited on the summit. It should here be said that the difference in ancient and modern acoma ceramics is far greater than between modern acoma and zuniware for example and it requires no very intimate acquaintance to enable anybody to readily distinguish the one variety from the other in the latter types. After making this interesting find we proceeded to fit together the entire latter in order to scale the 30 feet of sheer wall now before us. Selecting the middle of the eastern face of the cove as the most convenient and least hazardous point of ascent, the latter was adjusted and carefully raised, section by section until it reached the lower part of the sloping terrace above. Two holes were then pecked in the soft sandstone floor to prevent the now almost vertical ladder from slipping forward down the chasm. Again a member of the party went forward drawing with him a rope fastened about the waist the remaining three, the Indians stayed below holding the ladder as rigidly as possible yet it swayed and creaked and bent like a reed until the top was reached and it required no little care to step from an upper rung to the dizzy sloping ledge without forcing the ladder from its insecure bearing. The shelf was gained in safety however. The rope was tied to a rung and made fast around a large block of stone on the terrace to the left. The others ascended one by one, each with the rope tied around his chest and drawn about the rock by the leader as a measure of precaution. Then the equipage, wrapped in blankets, was fastened to the end of a rope thrown to the two Indians below and drawn up piece by piece. The remainder of the ascent was made without difficulty. The time consumed by the entire climb was so much over two hours. If the view of the valley at Akoma is beautiful, that from the summit of Katsumo is sublime. Mesa Prieta was solid still and the pink Mesa's haughty and their grandeur from the plane now seemed to realize their insignificance in the light of the glories beyond. Placid little pools, born of the storm the day before, lay glinting like diamonds on an emerald field, while old Mount Taylor tried in vain to lift his lofty head above the clouds that festooned the northern horizon. The summit of Inkantara has been swept and carved and swept again by the winds and rains of centuries since the ancestors of the simple Akomas climbed the latter trail of which we found the traces. The pinnacled floor has not always appeared as it is today, for it was once thickly mantled by the shirred strewn soil that now forms a goodly part of the great talus heaps below. The walls of the dwellings, undoubtedly the sun-baked mudballs that Castaneda describes, must have been erected on this soil stratum, for the native finds on earth when he has it a better footing for his walls than he does on Bear Rock and one may readily see that the film of soil that still remains occurs in places that would have afforded the best sites for dwellings. The day before was a day of storm. It even rained hard enough to drive an Indian from his religion, and yet not a cup full of water found a resting place on the entire Mesa surface, save for a few potholes eroded in the sandstone. The water had poured over the brink in a hundred cataracts, each contributing of the summit's substance to the detritus round about the base as in every storm for untold ages. There is little wonder then that I have found even a single relic when we had reached the top of the trail and looked about at the destruction rot, and yet we had been on the summit only a few minutes when Major Pratt found a shirt of pottery of very ancient type, much crackled by weathering. This fragment is of plain grey ware, quite coarse in texture with a degressant of white sand. Beginning at the eastern side we immediately began to explore the rim of the escarpment in a short time encountering the rude monument which had been observed by Professor Libby who expresses the opinion that it may have found its origin in erosion, but it seems to me as I think it will appear to anyone who will examine the accompanying illustration that only a glance is necessary to determine beyond all doubt that the pile could not have been erected saved by the hand of man. The structure stands on a natural floor of sandstone at the edge of the eastern cliff and consists of a narrow slab some 30 inches in length held erect by smaller slabs and boulders about the base, the stratification of the upright slab being vertical, that of the supporting stones horizontal. It would have been impossible for the structure to have originated by any but artificial means. The reconnaissance of the eastern rim was continued northward and of the western edge southward, but no further evidences of aboriginal occupancy were observed. The sun was lowering so that we were compelled to suspend the investigation in order to make preparation for our night's camp. After supper Mr. Roman and Mr. Haight built a huge fire for the evening air at this altitude is very chilly. We passed the night in questionable comfort and were out of our blankets at dawn. After a hasty breakfast we immediately began a survey of the Mesa Rim and while thus engaged were somewhat surprised to find three Akomas among us. They were scarcely friendly at first, indeed, according to the story of our two Lagunas who had spent the night in the camp below, they had seen our fire and had come with the avowed intention of compelling us to descend even if they had to threaten to cut the fire. The explanation, however, coupled with the information that we kept our coffee and sugar in a crevice beyond the campfire, soon appeased any wrath they may have been concealed in their bosoms and induced communicativeness. These three natives were Luciano Cristofal, Tiniente of the tribe and a medicine priest, Luis Pinho and Santiago Savaro, principales. After careful inquiry in regard to the tradition of the former occupancy of Katsimo, Luciano informed us that the elders had lived there so long ago, and the storms in his country were so destructive that we could now hardly expect to find any remains on the surface of the mesa. When we told him and his companions that a potzer had already been found, they became deeply interested and manifested no little anxiety to find other evidences of the lofty home side of their ancestors. I think there can be no doubt that this was the first visit of any of the present Akomas to the mesa top. They even sensed much curiosity in the place and were greatly surprised when they saw the monument, of which they could give no satisfactory explanation. It is needless to say that the natives did not intimate that the pile was due to natural causes. As already stated, the Indians were deeply interested in finding further evidence of occupancy, and I encouraged them to search for relics. They had preceded only a few yards, accompanied by a major prat, when the Tiniente found a fragment of ancient pottery quite similar to the sherd picked up the evening before. A few moments later two of them of different kinds of indented wear, as well as a portion of a shell bracelet still bearing evidence of considerable wear, and a large arrow point. Soon after, the keen Idluciano discovered near the northern rim of the mesa, the blade end of a white stone axe, on the edge of which several small notches had been made. The exposed side of this implement was thoroughly bleached and crackled, while the side and contact of the ground was stained and still damp when the finder handed it to me. After this, the man exhibited the blade end of another axe, which showed a portion of the groove, and which was notched similarly to the other. He had found it on the summit, or rather on a ledge a few feet below the summit. Both Mr. Haight and myself tried to purchase it, but the Indian refused to part with the specimen, as he was a medicine priest and desired to keep it for ceremonial use. Like the other implement, this axe was thoroughly bleached on one side by a weathering, the unexposed side being stained and still damp. We descended the mesa about noon of the second day, September 4th, having spent about 20 hours on the summit. During this time, I employed every opportunity in making a critical study of the general features of the top of Katsumo throughout the 2,500 feet of its length, devoting special consideration to the topography of the site, the erosion, the earthy deposit, the drainage, and the great cedars that stand gaunt and bare, or lie prone and decaying because their means of being washed away. And it was forced to the conclusion that had house walls, whether of stone or adobe, ever existed on the summit at a reasonably remote period, there was no possibility that any trace of them could have remained to this day. The abundance of ancient relics in the talus, the distinct remains of the latter trail, the specimens found on the summit coupled with the destruction wrought by nature, the tradition itself, all testify to the former habitation of the site. To the Akomas, Katsumo is still enchanted, and as a subject in the study of mysticism, the man of science must yet regard it. The lore of a millennium is not undone by a few hours of iconoclasm. End of Section 1 Section 2 of the National Geographic Magazine Volume 8, October 1897 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org recording by Avae in February 2019 Electric Street Railways According to the western electrician there were, on January 1st 1897 15,250 miles of streetcar track in the United States, of which 13,580 miles or 89% were operated by electricity 1010 miles or 6.6% by horses 550 miles or 3.4% by cable and 145 miles or 1% by steam dummy The adoption of electricity as a motive power has completely revolutionized the methods of city and suburban transportation between January 1st 1888 and January 1st 1897 The number of horse cars in use decreased from 21,736 to 3,664 while the number of electric cars increased from 172 to 37,097 In 1888 horse cars represented 86% and electric cars 7 tenths 1% of the total car equipment At the beginning of the present year 79 streetcars out of every 100 were propelled by electricity and only 7 out of 100 by horses J.H. End of section 2 Section 3 of the National Geographic Magazine Volume 8 October 1897 This is a LibraVox recording in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibraVox.org Recording by Betty B Geographical research in the United States by Gardner G. Hubbard LLD President of the National Geographic Society and Marcus Baker U.S. Geological Survey The United States now a little more than a century old is an area of 3,600,000 square miles an area a little greater than that of Canada and a little less than that of Europe. From eastern most Maine to western most Alaska it stretches through 120 degrees of longitude or about one third of the Earth's circumference. Thus in midsummer sunrise in eastern Maine occurs 20 minutes before sunset in western most Alaska. From southern most Florida reaching to the verge of the torrid zone it stretches northward to northern most Alaska more than 300 miles within the Arctic Circle. While in altitude it ranges from 200 or more feet below sea level in the deserts of southern California to heights of more than 18,000 feet in Alaska. Beginning with the close as 13 distinct and independent states stretching along the Atlantic Seaboard from New Hampshire to Georgia we have first a loose confederation of states which speedily breaking down was replaced by the present constitutional union of the people bound together in 45 sovereign states and five territories. In 1790 the 13 states had an area of about 350,000 square miles into population of a little less than 4 million. A century later its area was nearly 11 times as great in its population about 17 times as great or between 65 and 70 millions. Discovery of what is now the United States began just four centuries ago this very year when the Bristol merchant Cabot the first white man after the Norsemen to set foot on the American continent anti-dating Columbus by 14 months landed on the bleak coast of Labrador and then cruised southward as far as Virginia. This like all discoveries was only a beginning which pointed the way to and stimulated other discoveries. These are still unfinished and within the limits of the United States some tracks still exist which have never been seen by the white man. Of other tracks though seen and long vaguely known our knowledge is still dim and shadowy. For a century after Cabot small advance was made in our knowledge of the continent formally taken possession of by him in the name of his sovereign lord King Henry VII. The outline of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts were crudely delineated but of the Pacific coast north of California our maps until about 1750 or filled with fabled lands or monsters. Bearing's voyage of 1741 yielded the first definite knowledge of Northwestern America but it was not until nearly 40 years later in 1778 that Cook the great English navigator gave to the world the general outlines of Alaska as we now know them. The general features of the coast of western North America obtained by Cook were some 16 years later vastly improved from Southern California to cardiac by another English navigator the equal if not the superior of Cook whom every American student delights to honor Captain George Vancouver. The period of the war for independence in the last quarter of the last century was one of great geographic activity and stimulated the production of maps of the revolted colonies. The numerous and excellent for their time maps by the English geographer Jeffries may be taken as the best exponent of American geography 100 years ago. They show fairly well the Atlantic coastline from the maritime provinces of Canada to Georgia and so much of the interior as was the scene of hostilities but west of the Appalachian mountain chain the delineation was conjectural the existence of the great lakes of the mighty Mississippi and of the fertile valley drained by it were barely known. Such was the world's geographic knowledge of what is now the United States when those states united in 1789 the knowledge subsequently acquired is the work of the United States the individual states private persons and corporations the general land office one of the earliest agencies by which geographic knowledge was increased was the general land office the general government found itself in 1783 possessed of a region called the Northwest Territory lying beyond the mountains into this region settlers came about the beginning of the century that they might acquire title to land for their homes the government early devised a system of land partition surveyors were sent into the wilderness to subdivide the land for purposes of record land sale or gift the land was divided into square tracks six miles on each side called towns or townships and their corners marked sometimes by ax marks on trees called blazes and sometimes by artificial marks a row of such towns running north and south is called a range and numbered east and west from some arbitrary meridian similarly a row of towns running east and west called town and is numbered north or south from an arbitrary baseline each town was further subdivided into 36 squares each containing one square mile or 640 acres called a section the sections are similarly numbered from 1 to 36 in every town each corner of each section was marked by the surveyors who were thus required actually to chain over every mile the record of their measures to note all streams and lakes and the character of soil and timber to note the magnetic declination and to submit to the general land office the skeleton map of each town subdivided together with their field notes these maps called town plots now constitute a vast body of original records in the general land office in washington and are the sole dependence of map makers for hundreds of thousands of square miles of our territory every state and territory in the union except the original 13 main Vermont Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas and Alaska has been thus in whole or in part surveyed and subdivided this work now far advanced toward completion has always been under the control of the general land office now a part of the department of the interior for geographic purposes the results are shown in a series of state maps and a general map of the United States the work was for about a century done by contract but within the past two or three years a part has been done by the US Geological Survey in connection with its topographic surveys thus indirectly the general land office has for a century been and still continues to be one of the most important geographic agencies of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey another old and important geographic agency is the Coast and Geodetic Survey under the Treasury Department the primary purpose of this bureau was to accurately chart the coast for purposes of commerce and defense its field of work is tide water with a fringe of topography landwards and a somewhat extensive border of sea bottom and seawards created in 1807 it made little progress till 1832 in that year it was revived and has continued uninterruptedly till the present day from the beginning its ideals were high great accuracy has ever been and is its motto it has been a leader and not a follower it has developed its own methods and instruments and to its officers civil, military we are indebted among other things for the zenith telescope for the most accurate determination of latitudes for the application of the telegraph to longitude determinations for the invention, construction and use of a machine for predicting tides and for great improvements in apparatus for measuring the force of gravity the polyconic projection now so extensively used was developed and applied by officers of this bureau as also were appliances for deep sea sounding and the study of the ocean deeps its field of work was extended in 1871 to include geodetic work in the interior and in 1876 it received the name of coast and geodetic survey by which it is officially designated though often referred to as the coast survey it is one of the active geographic agencies of the united states and is not only making charts coast pilots and tide tables but is contributing to our knowledge of ocean physics terrestrial magnetism and of the size, shape and structure of our planet engineer corps USA US engineers though not now actively prosecuting geographic research have in the past made notable contributions to geography prior to and even since of the rebellion 1861 to 65 numerous expeditions in the far west were made by army officers and each of these added something to our geographic knowledge aside from these various military reconnaissance to noteworthy surveys have been carried on in the past by the US engineers one was a survey of the northern and northwestern lakes which after an existence of 40 years was concluded in 1881 it made a series of detailed and accurate charts of all the great lakes and a valuable collection of data its series of lake levels has very recently been put to use in determining certain secular changes in the crust of the earth forming the great basin in which those lakes lie if the slow tilting of this basin southward which these levels show when compared to the most recent ones continues for a period of about 6000 years then it is calculated that Niagara will have vanished and all the lakes except Ontario will drain to the Mississippi by way of the Chicago outlet these highly interesting and somewhat startling conclusions have just been presented at the Detroit meeting of the American Association for the advancement of science by Mr. U.S. Geological Survey another noteworthy geographic work by the U.S. engineers was a general map making survey in the far west under the direction of Captain George M Wheeler U.S. and usually referred to as the Wheeler survey a considerable tract of country was mapped by it on a scale of eight miles to one inch this survey with two others the so called Hayden and Powell surveys were merged in the present geological survey in 1879 the work of improving rivers and harbors in the interest of commerce is now carried on by the United States engineers and their geographic work consists in special surveys for these improvements and of a new survey of the great lakes geological survey the chief agency for increasing geographic knowledge of the United States at the present time is the United States geological survey now 18 years old nearly or quite one half of its energies and funds are expended in the production of topographic maps and thus it is in fact though not in name United States topographic and geologic survey the conditions confronting the survey at its creation differed in one important particular from those similarly counting European geological surveys those surveys had in almost if not quite every case been preceded by topographic surveys and the geologists found maps adequate to their needs ready made but in the United States topographic maps were not available as there had been no topographic survey thus progress and geologic mapping was impeded at the outset by the lack of geological maps accordingly in 1882 authority was given to make topographic maps and since then about one half of the energies of the survey have been given to their production since 1882 the survey has surveyed and mapped on scales of one two and four miles to the inch an area of 760,000 square miles almost equal to the combined areas of Britain, France, Germany Spain and Portugal the results are contained on 980 atlas sheets 460 on the one mile scale 460 on the two mile scale and 60 on the four mile scale these surveys have been made in nearly every state and territory following these came the geological surveys but before much progress was possible a large amount of preliminary investigation was needful to determine the great features whose details were to be wrought out and mapped a system of rock classification uniformly applicable to so great and complex an area as the United States required much careful preliminary work that has been accomplished and systematic geologic mapping has been in progress for some years the aspect of the country and its utility for man's use is largely dependent on the annual rainfall this ranges from a very few inches in the driest part of the arid or desert regions of the southwest to nearly or quite 8 feet per year on the coast of southern Alaska as the human regions were settled up population gradually pushed into the semi arid and desert regions of the far west where agriculture without artificial irrigation is impossible but with irrigation marvelously successful thus came a demand for knowledge as to water supply and to this work one division of the geological survey is wholly devoted intimately associated with water supply is the forestry problem the proper administration of the forests their preservation from destruction by carelessness or greed is a question now attracting serious attention a number of large forest tracks in the west have been recently set apart as reservations and these with the Yellowstone National Park the Yosemite and others previously reserved comprise a total area estimated at 38,880,000 acres or more than 60,000 square miles in the budget for this year Congress has included an item of $150,000 for the survey of these forest reserves this work is under the direction of the United States geological survey the output of the mines and quarries of the United States has grown in value from $369,000,000 in 1880 to $622,000,000 in 1896 that authentic information on this subject might be promptly available a division of mineral statistics has existed in the geological survey from the beginning charged with the duty of gathering and publishing statistics this it does in an annual volume devoted to mineral statistics and the state of the mining industry from year to year finds permanent record in these volumes Navy Department the Hydrographic Office of the Bureau of Navigation has for a primary aim the securing and publication of information useful to those who go down to the sea in ships this includes surveys and chart making of all coasts except those of the United States ocean meteorology terrestrial magnetism and ocean physics the charting of the coasts of the United States is done exclusively by the Coast Survey which has nearly completed the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and about three-fifths of the Pacific coast except Alaska of which only a small part is as yet surveyed of foreign coasts the Hydrographic Office has recently surveyed and charted the western coast of the peninsula of Lower California one of the Mexican states about 1,000 miles in extent it is extended our knowledge of the sea abysses by various lines of soundings in the interest of projected cable lines since the perils of ocean travel by the monthly issue of pilot charts of the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans containing data as to derelicts ice fields storm tracks and other information useful to the mariner the systematic collection of data for these pilot charts results in a constant increase in our knowledge of the geography of the sea weather bureaus to investigate the history structure and contents of the crust of the earth is the peculiar province of the geological survey to study the currents movements and characteristics of the earth saltwater envelope is the province of the coast survey and the hydrographic office to investigate the character amount habits and migrations of its contained life is the province of the fish commission the study of the all enveloping gaseous ocean in which we live and move that invisible sea of air with this ever varying moods of restful calm and fierce storm now delightfully transparent and now somber or menacing with storm cloud sometimes scorching and sometimes freezing the study of this gaseous envelope of the laws which govern its behavior and the daily deduction from these laws which foretell to the sailor the farmer the traveler what he may expect is the peculiar province of the weather bureau may we not properly call this field of study the geography of the air and has it not ever formed a large chapter in our physical geographies the weather service in the united states is 27 years old dating from 1870 at first it was a military organization called the signal service and its purpose was to give notice on the northern lakes and on the seacoast by magnetic telegraph and marine signals of the approach and force of storms its primary object was therefore not the study of climate but the prediction of storms it seeks to tell the weather of tomorrow rather than that of the last year or the last century but as we are forced to judge the future by the past the study of meteorological records is not selected and within the bureau there has ever been a core of scientific experts at work upon such lines as gave promise of producing something new or useful for the forecaster the bureau is now a civilian one having been transferred from the war department to the department of agriculture its present field of activity is far wider than we have indicated so wide indeed that time will not permit even a mention of details thus have we briefly summarized and characterized the work carried on by the greater geographic agencies of the government of the United States and yet such summary would be incomplete without mention at least of several other agencies still at work and actively contributing to a fuller and better knowledge of our geography the total railroad mileage of the United States not counting second or third tracks or sightings is in round numbers 180,000 miles or about 45% of the world's mileage to locate and construct these thousands of miles of road much of it running through districts little or quite unknown when preliminary surveys began as involved a vast expenditure of money by which geographic knowledge has been increased it has been estimated perhaps it would be more exact to say guessed that the sums expended on these railroad surveys is enough to have produced topographic map of the entire country the chief geographic contribution from these surveys is a knowledge of altitudes over all these railroads lines of level have been run and by collecting and platting those levels and adding to them those obtained from other sources it has been possible for the geological survey to produce a fairly approximate contour map of the United States the Mississippi River with its tributaries in the great Central Valley of the United States drains an area of about 1,200,000 square miles or about one third of the United States from the sources of the Missouri to the passes at the mouth of the Mississippi in the Gulf of Mexico is 4,200 miles these two great rivers with their affluence of four thousands of miles of navigable water through the great Central Valley so important is this artery of commerce that two distinct commissions one for the Mississippi and one for the Missouri have existed for some years for the purpose of surveying mapping studying and improving them detailed maps of the rivers and a fringe of topography on either side have been made over a considerable of the navigable parts of these rivers and the results are shown on 240 atlas sheets much precise leveling has also been carried on in connection with these surveys independent of the federal government various states to the number of 20 or more particularly those known to possess mineral wealth have conducted geological surveys or perhaps it should be said geological reconnaissance two have conducted topographic surveys and four have cooperated with the general government in making topographic surveys these four Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut and New Jersey has also the District of Columbia are now completely mapped on a scale of one mile to the inch and in contours with the vertical interval of 20 feet the post office department for its own purposes is studying the 70,000 post offices under its control compiles state maps showing post routes and political divisions the boundary line shown on these maps are compiled from the laws and by correspondence and constitute an authentic source of information as to minor boundaries allusion has been made to the work of the fish commission in studying the character habits and migrations of marine life and it should be mentioned the similar work on land carried on by the biological survey in the department of agriculture of the great advances in geographic knowledge resulting from the explorations of Lewis and Clark near the beginning of the century from the work of Fremont the Pathfinder from the Pacific Railroad surveys of 50 years ago and from numerous military expeditions time fails for more than a bare mention these then are the greater geographic agencies of the United States some of them will be presented to you more at large by the gentleman actually conducting the works outlined as to the future it will easily appear that the amount already achieved is but a small part of what remains to be done geographic research and progress in the United States has never been swifter or more active than it is today and knowledge of environment resources is gathered in large installments each year to discover and develop resources the United States is now employing about 5,000 persons and expending nearly 8 million dollars annually just as the Royal Geographical Society of London began 67 years ago its work of fostering and promoting geographic research so the National Geographic Society of Washington 10 years ago entered upon similar work great and lasting good has resulted from each undertaking may their efforts continue till dark continents and unexplored regions shall have vanished from our maps End of Section 3 Section 4 of the National Geographic Magazine Volume 8 October 1897 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are available in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Larry Wilson A brief account of the geographic work of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey by T.C. Mindenhall LLD Ph.D. etc President of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and formerly superintendent Otto H. Titman Assistant in charge of the office of the survey Read before the geographical section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science Toronto August 23rd 1897 While a relatively small part of the energies of the U.S. and Geodetic Survey has been devoted since the creation of the Bureau in 1807 to geographic exploration it is perhaps only just to say in the character and amount of its precision work it is second to no similar organization in the world From the very start the standard of work has been the highest attainable in the existing condition of the arts and sciences on which such work must depend and often not content with that condition The survey has made it its business to better it by original investigations of the first class leading to improvements in the instruments and methods of the highest importance It thus became the principal and for many years almost the only Bureau of the government in which exact science was cultivated In its outward activities it was essentially an organization for the practical application of science to the solution of certain problems and the issue of certain publications which were of the utmost value to commerce The duties to be performed by it were to sound the depths of the ocean to the shores of the United States to define the shallows which barred the ways of commerce to delineate with great accuracy the shores and physical condition of the thousand harbors and estuaries with which a benign providence has blessed our coasts to investigate the tides and currents of the waters which bear their precious burden of human lives and property to unfro and to study the mysterious variations and uncertainties of the magnetic needle by which the navigator was largely directed To these immediate problems the survey addressed itself with vigor and foresight under the guiding hands of Hassler and his imminent successors. Hassler, the friend of Jefferson and Gallatin enjoyed the confidence and support of these imminent statesmen but he had before him difficulties as great as his field was wide. Inert public opinion as to the utility of the proposed survey had to be generalized and molded. Men had to be trained to carry out the technical parts of the work. Instruments had to be constructed and correct methods had to be prescribed how these difficulties presented themselves and how they were overcome will form a proper chapter not only in the history of the great survey which yet remains to be written but also in the history of the progress of science in this country. It may be said that Hassler in 1844 saw the fruition of his hopes when a general plan of operations prescribed by him was adopted by a scientific commission composed of army and navy officers and civilians. Its adoption marks the official recognition of the necessity for precise and systematic work in the mapping of our domain. Its simple and correct outline of the operations to be followed in making a survey of great extent has permitted the extension of the work in a manner commensurate with the enlargement of our national domain by acquisitions of territory from France, Spain and Mexico. With the expansion of territory came the extension of the scope of the survey and finally when the advantages of a transcontinental triangulation became apparent its geodetic function was recognized by law. In accordance with his primary duties the survey has developed and charted the depth of the waters along our coast with extreme minuteness and accuracy not only in the rivers, bays and harbors but offshore as far as the needs of commerce demanded it. Going beyond the immediate requirements of the mariner it has devoted itself to discovering the depths of the sea over large areas as shown by the complete survey of the Gulf of Mexico. Its depths were sounded and charted its salinity tested and the temperatures of the waters were recorded. Much earlier than these successful surveys of the Gulf were the explorations of the Gulf stream important not alone in their geographic results but in developing methods often by failures which rendered subsequent success possible. The hydrographic results achieved are shown on between 500 and 600 charts many of them as such exquisite perfection as to form a standard of excellence for all cartographers. Its researches in physical hydrography include not only the study of the tides and currents and incidentally the establishment of planes of reference from which the constancy of the relation between the ocean level and the land is to be inferred but it has studied for future comparison the movements of sandy shores as for instance those of Cape Cod and those of Cape Cod and the exposed islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard to discover the relationship between the outlying shoals and the changes of the shores. Here again precision of work alone is of any avail for correct conclusions can be drawn only after the lapse of time and after a standard of comparison has been created by an accurate survey. Want of space forbids the enumeration of many special results but the discovery of the value of the tidal circulation through the East River as a factor in maintaining the depth of the bar at Sandy Hook and the discovery of the underrun of the Hudson and his bearing on the feasibility of obtaining a water supply for the towns along that river can be mentioned as contributions in a special field of geography. As properly belonging to the subject of the hydrographic surveys the literature of the several and successive volumes of the coast pilots published by the survey must be mentioned. The coast pilots of Alaska compiled by Davidson and later by Dahl are invaluable historical records of the geography of that coast and the same may be said of the volumes covering the remainder of the Pacific coast and those which describe in detail our Atlantic shores. They are not intended to deal in generalities but they describe with rigid particularity geographic landmarks which are to guide ships by day and by night. The maps of the survey are embellished by accurate representation of the topography which borders our shores. For thousands of miles a narrow fringe of topography has been mapped with minute and necessary accuracy. It is based on local and detail triangulation which in turn rests on a larger network of triangles which coordinates all the surveys along the coasts. The introduction of precise methods for the determination of latitudes and longitudes went hand in hand with all the other operations of the survey. Thus the success of Morse in the spring of 1844 was followed in the autumn of the following year by formal instructions given by Bach to Walker to prepare for telegraphic longitude determinations. But it was not until October 10th 1846 that the method was successfully put into practice by the exchange of signals between Philadelphia and Washington and thereafter the precise determination of longitudes had merely to await the extension of the telegraph system from point to point within our own borders and throughout the world. As soon as the Atlantic cable had been laid in 1866 the survey successfully undertook to determine our longitude from Greenwich by the telegraphic method. Up to that time the longitude adopted for Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1851 was used. The adopted value 4 hours 44 minutes 39.5 seconds had been derived from many years of laborious observations of moon culminations eclipses occultations and chronometer determinations but this value was increased in 1869 by 1.35 seconds as the result of comparatively brief cable determinations. Similarly the longitude adopted for San Francisco in 1855 as the result of 206 moon culminations was increased in 1869 by 3.1 seconds in linear measure about 3 quarters of a mile by the telegraphic determination. In the past year the survey has completed and adjusted its primary longitude net covering the whole United States and fixing for all time the astronomical longitudes of the points included in it not only in their relation to each other but in all probability their final relation to the initial meridian of Greenwich since in this adjustment three transatlantic determinations by the coast survey and one by the Canadians have been used. Less need be said about the latitude determinations since the methods adopted though admirable in their precision involve no such radical improvement as that which the telegraph brought about in the determination of longitudes. On the other hand however the Zenith telescope is developed by the survey as in the hands of its observers contributed materially to our knowledge of the variation of latitude. Reference has been made to the geodetic function of the survey. It has measured the weak arc, the last triangles in which have but just now been observed extending from the north eastern boundary of the Gulf of Mexico. To join this with the primary chain as yet incomplete of triangles along the Pacific coast a great arc has been measured along the 39th parallel of latitude the completion of which has been but recently announced. The adjustment of the triangulation along this great arc and the adoption of a homogenous system will furnish the fundamental data for the coordination of all government or state surveys for all time to come. If it be permitted to fallible human wisdom to make such an assertion. Grand in its inception splendid in its execution this monumental work may be reckoned as the most important contribution to the geography of our country on account of its present and prospective value. The measurement of a great meridiano arc along the 98th meridian is in contemplation and our sister Republic of Mexico which has just established a geodetic survey it is hoped will take a hand in its extension southward while to our cousins across the northern border a similar opportunity for its prolongation northward may be offered in the course of time. The survey has been especially called upon for assistance in defining the boundaries of 11 states and aid has been extended to 15 others by the determination of geographical positions within their borders in the determination of the national boundaries it has cooperated in retracing the line between Mexico and the United States has made topographic surveys along the north eastern boundary and in the far north it has determined the crossing of the 141st meridian on the porcupine and Yukon rivers in regions to which all adventurous eyes are now turned and in south east Alaska it has made exploratory surveys as well as precise geographic determinations for the ultimate delineation of the boundary between Alaska and the British possessions. The enormous extent of the country included in the operations of the survey and especially its nearness to the principal north magnetic pole offered a rare opportunity for the investigation of the problem of terrestrial magnetism. Observations began at an early date and have been continued up to the present time at a constantly increasing number of stations. In addition to a regular periodic study of the magnetic elements of a large number of specially selected points by the most approved methods and the best instrumental appliances the survey has maintained a photographic registry magnetic observatory which it has moved from time to time from one part of the country to another it has made extensive publication of the data thus obtained including a series of magnetic charts which are of the greatest value to navigators at sea and surveyors on the land. Its archives contain a mass of reliable information concerning terrestrial magnetism unequaled in extent and importance. In common with several similar organizations in Europe it has devoted much attention, mostly during the past 25 years to the study of terrestrial gravity. Beginning with methods long in use its observers were quick to detect and point out certain serious and hitherto unsuspected faults necessitating considerable corrections in nearly all accumulated data relating to that subject. Instruments were also improved and methods greatly changed increasing at once the precision and rapidity at gravity measurements. Expeditions have been sent to various quarters of the globe for the purpose of gravity observations and coast survey pendulums have swung in all continents except Australia in most important cities on several of the highest mountains and on many islands in the several oceans. No others have been vibrated so near the poles as these and none over so wide a range in longitude. The results of these operations together with the measurement of the great arc of unrivaled length form a contribution of no ordinary interest to the more precise solution of the great problem of dimensional geography. In the Section 4 Section 5 of the National Geographic Magazine. Volume 8 October 1897 This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org United States Daily Atmospheric Survey by Professor Willis L. Moore Chief of the U.S. Weather Bureau read before the geographical section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science Toronto, August 23rd 1897 The United States Weather Service has been in existence 27 years during the past 25 years the daily synoptic charts of the service have shown the most comprehensive atmospheric survey ever presented to the forecaster or to the broad investigator of fundamental principles of storms The vast region now brought under the dominion of by-daily synchronous observations embraces an area extending 2,000 miles north and south 3,000 miles east and west and so fortunately located in the interest of the meteorologist as to cut an important arc from the circumpolar thoroughfare of storms of the northern hemisphere The extreme points of observation are Edmonton in the Canadian province of Alberta on the northwest St. John's on the northeast Key West on the southeast and San Diego on the southwest and arrangements are now complete for a cooperation with Mexico similar to that in operation with Canada which will in a few months extend the area of observation southward over Mexico and Yucatan It is a wonderful panoramic picture of atmospheric conditions which by the aid of simultaneous measurements and the electromagnetic telegraph joining the places of observation by a magic touch is presented to the trained eye of the forecaster Each 12 hours the kaleidoscope changes and a new graphic picture of actual conditions is shown Where else can the meteorologist find such opportunity to study storms and atmospheric changes In the middle of the 18th century Franklin detected the rotary and progressive motions of storms Early in the 19th century Redfeld and Espy contended over rival theories as to the mechanical principle involved in the formation of storms In a little later Morey studied the storms of the Atlantic Ocean Still later, Loomis, Dove, and Ferrell reviewed these theories and added much to our knowledge But at this late date no one has been able to satisfactorily coordinate the forces operative in cyclones or to assign quantitative values to the horizontal temperature and pressure gradients to the surface and internal frictions of convection to centrifugence to the latent heat of condensation and to the effect of hemispherical circulation Probably the only component of cyclonic force that as well understood and accurately computed is the deflection due to the earth's rotation Our early investigators studied only the storms of low levels in humid areas where convection was only needed to carry the moist air currents to but a slightly higher elevation before cooling by expansion would produce condensation and an immediate acceleration of the cyclone by the liberation of latent heat They had never seen the whirling cyclones of the arid northern rocky mountain plateau dashed down upon our great lakes with rapidly increasing energy notwithstanding the fact that there was little or no condensation and hence no addition of the latent heat which S.B. supposed was absolutely essential to a continuation of storms The widely differing elevation, topography temperature and aridity of the broad region under observation give conditions which are unequaled anywhere in the world for the advantages which they present to the physicist to study the mechanical phases of storm development and progression or at least such as can be profitably studied with observations taken only at the bottom of the great aerial ocean surrounding the earth Here we see summer cyclones formed under the intense insulation which beats down through a diotherminous atmosphere upon the arid waste of the rocky mountain plateau Cyclones which if they form in the northern part of the plateau region move eastward to our lakes and thence to the St. Florence with scant rainfall Cyclones which if they have their origin further south on the warmer plains of Colorado move into the Ohio valley and thence into New England with considerably more precipitation and cyclones which if they have their inception on the hot and arid plains of Arizona and New Mexico can always be expected to give abundant rainfall when they reach the lower Mississippi valley and later as they pass over the middle Atlantic states All these can be studied during their inception at an average altitude of 5000 feet above sea level and under conditions of extreme aridity They can be viewed later as they come down nearly to sea level in the Mississippi valley and reach a more humid atmosphere 1000 miles from the place of their birth and finally they are seen as they reach the extremely humid air of the Atlantic ocean 1500 miles further east The great winter cyclones which originate south of the Japanese islands and across the Pacific ocean come under our vision as they successfully surmount the formidable rocky mountain barriers with but little recognition of energy sweep across our continent with increasing force and heavy precipitation and within 3 days pass beyond our meteorological horizon at the Atlantic seaboard only to be heard from 3 days later as boring ravages of northern Europe The great anti-cyclones or high pressure eddies which constitute the American cold waves drift into our territory from the Canadian northwest provinces and are studied under rapidly changing conditions during 3000 miles of their course The high pressure eddy with all the conventional principles of the cyclone reversed may be said not to depend upon the land of its birth for the cold it brings for a strong vertical and anti-cyclonic motion at the center is continually drawing down the cold air from above In the cold air it must be conceded that the loss of heat by radiation to a cloudless sky is much greater than that gained by compression or else it must be assumed that the atmosphere possesses such intense cold at the elevation from which the air is drawn that notwithstanding the heat gained by compression in its descent it is still far below the normal temperature at the surface of the earth The West Indian hurricanes always at sea level and in humid air which are the most violent of all American storms intrude themselves into the domain of the United States weather map at the bend of their parabolic course at about latitude 30 They have for years furnished a fruitful theme for the thoughts of the investigator For 27 years the forecasters of the Weather Bureau have studied the inception, development and progression of these different classes of atmospheric disturbances From a knowledge personally gained by many years service as an official forecaster I do not hesitate to express the opinion that we long since reached the highest degree of accuracy in the making of forecasts possible to be attained with surface readings It is patent that we are extremely ignorant of the mechanics of the storm of the operations of these vast yet subtle forces in free air which give inception to the disturbance and which supply the energy necessary to continue the same Having long realized this I determined at once on coming to the control of the United States Weather Bureau to systematically attack the problem of upper air exploration with the hope ultimately of being able to construct a daily synoptic weather chart from simultaneous readings taken in free air at an altitude of not less than one mile above the earth As it appeared to me that previous plans for investigating the upper air by means of free and uncontrollable balloons by observers in balloons or by independent kite stations are of little value in getting the information absolutely necessary to improve our methods of forecasting Simultaneous observation at a uniformly high level from many kite stations was the plan I inaugurated for the prosecution of this important investigation Professor Marvin was assigned to the difficult task of devising appliances making instruments and I am pleased to say that we have improved on kite flying to such an extent that apparatus is now easily sent up to a height of one mile in only a moderate wind we have made an automatic instrument that while weighing less than two pounds will record temperature pressure, humidity and wind velocity before next spring we expect to have not less than 20 stations placed between the rocky mountains and the Atlantic Ocean taking daily readings at an elevation of one mile or more we shall then construct a chart from the high level readings obtained at these 20 stations and study the same in connection with the surface chart made at the same moment being this able to map out not only the vertical gradients of temperature, humidity, pressure velocity, but the horizontal distribution of these forces on two levels it is hoped to better understand the development of storms and cold waves and eventually improve the forecasts of their future course extent and rate of movement in exceptional cases we have flown the kites to a height of nearly two miles from daily readings at only one kite station at this point we have derived information as to the direction and force of the wind above the one mile level which has greatly assisted us in estimating the future direction of a storm center when our surface chart gave but negative indications it will be a fascinating study to note the progress of cold waves at this high level and to determine if the changes in temperature do not first begin above things at washington indicate that contending equatorial and polar winds may be more potent in the formation of storm eddies than heated and descending convectional currents I am anxious to know the difference in temperature between the surface and the upper stratum in the four quadrants of the cyclone and in the four quadrants of the anti-cyclone especially when the storm and cold wave conditions are intense at an elevation of five miles but little effect remains of diurnal temperature variation at this altitude the atmosphere is free from the disturbing influence of immediate surface radiation and consequently there is but little change between the temperature of the midday and midnight the vertical distribution of temperature in the several quadrants of the cold wave or rainstorm areas may give a clue to the future direction of the storm when we are able to construct isobaric gradients at the one mile level it may be discovered that the storm center at that elevation will not always coincide with the geographical location of the storm center at the surface of the earth the displacement of this center is some indication of the future direction of the storm there are many interesting problems to be solved by this investigation end of section 5 section 6 of the national geographic magazine vol 8 october 1897 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Larry Wilson geographic notes Africa Sierra Leone the first section of the first railroad in British West Africa is now being operated between Freetown and Wellington British South Africa a company has been formed to construct and operate a line of railway from the Umtali to Salisbury a distance of about 160 miles Umtali is the terminus of the existing Berra railway system Abyssinia a recent report on the trade of Addis Abattah states that Ivory which could once be obtained at the rate of a tusk for a percussion musket is now sold at from $80 to $100 for 40 pounds coffee of good quality grows wild in many parts of the country Central America British Honduras the report of the government surveyers the reliability of the proposed railroad from Belize to the western frontier of the colony a distance of 72 miles estimates the cost of construction at $3,575,237 or nearly $50,000 per mile it is considered doubtful if the road would pay interest on so large an investment unless it were continued into Guatemala and negotiations looking to that end are now in progress Nicaragua Mr. Thomas O'Hara U.S. consulate San Juan del Norte states in a recent report that there is neither a cellar nor a chimney in that city all the buildings are wood although lumber is expensive and short lived the climate and wood ants combining to play havoc with it the exclusive use of wood except in a very few cases for foundation purposes is not due to fear of earthquakes but to the fact that there is stone or brick clay in the vicinity there is however no market for imported brick South America Venezuela the government of Venezuela has ceded to Mr. Rutgers and Buford bankers of Amsterdam the monopoly of all the salt mines in the country in consideration of the establishment of a new bank at Caracas with a capital of $3,860,000 the bank will have the right to establish branches and to issue notes to double the amount of its capital the concession is reported to have created great dissatisfaction among the people British Guiana a recent writer on the gold industry of British Guiana says that whether the colony has a future as a gold producing country is a question not yet removed from the region of doubt there is no denying the fact that the central areas are richly orifters difficulties and dangers attending the navigation of the rivers constitute an enormous obstacle to the working of the deposits the total gold production of the colony for the year ending June 30th, 1897 was 128,334 ounces as against 119,422 ounces in 1895-96 and 138,279 ounces in 1892-3 in the section 6 end of the National Geographic magazine volume 8 October 1897